This is Why we Pirate

I'm done buying CDs.

In a noble effort of support,  I do actually still go out and purchase the CDs of artists I care enough about. (That is a select group, I will admit.)

But after continuing to be disappointed, I've decided I'll just stick with the radio. Why should I give you my money when what I get in return isn't deserving of my investment?

"Album sales are down, the industry is on life support!" That's the cry we've heard from those bemoaning the current state of the music industry. Perhaps if between the labels and the artists, you all truly put together a compilation of the best material, people would be more inclined to buy it.

Hearing creative, imaginative singles, features and mixtape work is what whets our appetite for an artist's full-length work. But Miguel, Robin Thicke, Trey, (etc) when I get these bland, lifeless albums it's a letdown and a turnoff. What gets lost between the music that makes us fall in love and the music that makes it to the CD?

Case in point, after like 2 years of listening to individual songs, I've been dying to buy Miguel's CD - whenever he got around to making one. Finally got it Wednesday. Where's the intriguing themes, the unexpected sounds, the compelling rhythms that made me want to move on "Dig," "Ooh Ah" and "Overlaod"? Where was the passion I heard in "Supernatural"? The undeniable groove of that funky loop in the first single, "All I Want is You"? Unfortunately, the only songs I like on this dreary album are the ones I've already heard.

And then the music bloggers and writers mislead us, heralding an album as an artist's best work,(i.e. Kanye) when it's really mediocre. Yall need to stop kissin up and lying to the ppl! I actually can't tell you the last good CD I bought - good in terms of having to skip very few tracks and being able to listen to it again and again. Maybe Wale's "Attention Deficit." Maybe Drake "Thank Me Later," which even had to grow on me.

I want to be grabbed, wowed and captivated til the end. When did music stop having high expectations for itself? I don't care if you're tired from touring, tweeting and trying to be everywhere at once. Stop stretching yourself so thin that you deliver a half-cooked product.  And if the label won't let you? YOU'RE the artist, YOU'RE the commodity. Don't let them take away your voice! Assert yourself and give the fans what you know you're capable of and what we tell you we want. This thang should be a lil more democratic than it is. Cuz right now I feel like I'm being force fed major bull sh*t. I mean, seriously, half the songs on these albums nowadays, I'm like, did YOU even like that when you recorded it? Doesn't sound like it. You couldn't have been nodding your head like that sounded good, cuz u know it doesn't!

*Sigh* Monica let me down this year, Rick Ross underwhelmed me, Mike Posner was just a little better than OK, previewed "Pink Friday," and as much as I thought I wanted it, listening in advance was a good idea that saved me a few coins. Jazmine Sullivan, your second single is a yawn, and Miss Chrisette, what IS this woeful, messy single you've dropped an album off of?


This is coming from a place of love. I like you guys. I want you to be good. I want to be an active supporter. But I'm feeling more like a scorned ex. "Yall almost walked off wid alla my stuff"!